1. Field:
This invention relates to fasteners and more particularly, to fasteners adapted for securing two members together in a preselected spatial orientation.
2. Statement of the Art:
Various fastener constructions have been suggested in the art for use in connecting one article to another. One particular environment wherein fasteners have been extensively used is in the area of swimming pool covers. For many years, swimming pool owners, anxious to protect the water in their swimming pools from contamination from blowing dirt and leaves, and furthermore to render such pools safer, have utilized fabric covers positioned over the pools. To secure the cover in place, various means have been adapted. One of the more popular methods involves the drilling of a plurality of upright holes in the pool deck about the perimeter of the pool. The cover, fitted with a plurality of grommets, is positioned about the pool perimeter whereby each grommet registers with a respective deck-defined hole. An elongate fastener is individually inserted through a respective grommet and into a corresponding hole to form a securement of the cover with the deck. This fastener is typically one fabricated of a resilient plastic material and is constructed to initially collapse upon being inserted through the grommet and deck hole. Upon being inserted a preselected distance, the fastener expands to abut the sidewalls of the hole to produce a connection engagement.
Owing to the necessity of repeatedly removing the cover to use the pool, the fasteners must be frequently retracted from their retaining holes to free the cover and thereby permit its removal. In the past, a tool having the general configuration of a conventional dandelion puller has been used to remove the fasteners. Such pullers typically include a pair of jaws which are inserted beneath a laterally extending flange or lip of the fastener. The puller is then used like lever to pry the fastener from its engagement with the deck hole. The use of such pullers often results in the destruction of individual fasteners due to the particular forces being applied thereto by the puller tool.
There continues to be a need for a fastener and tool arrangement which provides a means of securing a pool cover to a deck which is easily removed while minimizing the chances that such a removal will damage the fastener.